Chapter Text
"And I'm" he caught his breath "I'm Spider-Man" His fingers clicked together, and his vision went white and bright, a massive pain ran through him from the tips of his fingers to the rest of his body, spreading like an electric current.
In those few seconds he could hear a scream that echoed in his head, he could feel something burning and surprisingly cold, an icy and calming wave took over his entire body and the painful and crushing pressure was brutally replaced by a bluish-colored fog and greenish like the aurora borealis.
He opened his eyes, confused as everything seemed...right. Nothing hurt, and the smell of the air was fresh like a breeze even though he seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, the silence that surrounded him was not overwhelming but calm. Is this what death was like? He relaxed, feeling the tension in his shoulders instantly ease.
"Well, hello" A comforting feminine voice resounded and echoed in the vast place making him jump a little and look around curiously "It's nice to meet you, Peter. A little early and in circumstances so different from what was expected but it's very nice to meet you."
Peter opened and closed his mouth but didn't even make a sound, not knowing what to say, he had so many questions and his brain couldn't formulate anything.
"We're going to need to go over some things here, it might be difficult for you but it will be quick, I promise." The voice said calmly
"I - I'm sorry ma'am" Peter interrupted "but who are you? Where am I?"
"Oh yes, Peter, I am an omniscient being, do you know what that means, dear?" Peter nodded slightly, "You can call me whatever you want, if you want. My duty here is to guide you to the next phase. Let's talk a little and understand everything that happened and what made you get here, that's it. Does it make sense to you?"
Peter nodded lightly again "Yes, yes, it does."
"Well let's see, are you 16 years old?"
He thought about it "Not complete, ma'am. My birthday is just... it would be in 3 weeks"
"I understand" the voice said in a thoughtful tone, seeming to take a deep breath before continuing "Well Peter, you're leaving a lot of people who love you there, aren't you?"
When he didn't answer she continued
"You did something big today, Peter. It took a lot of courage for you, certainly. Didn't it occur to you that you'd be giving up a whole bright future, young man?"
"Well I don't... I'm not sure about that future. And I believe I would be denying many people the possibility of having a future... and seeing their families again."
At that moment, the aurora borealis fog dissipated a little, giving space to a paused view of the battlefield, like a scene from a movie.
Tears clogged his throat as he got a little closer and saw the scared and panicked look on Tony's bruised face, his mentor was ready to run towards his lifeless body amidst the wreckage.
Further behind were Steve, Clint, Bruce and the others, he wasn't sure if they were running towards his lifeless body or Tony who seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown
"What about your family? Didn't you think about them too? Anthony Stark went on a long journey just to bring you back."
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, frowning at that.
"No ma'am, I don't believe he did all of this for me, Mr. Stark did it for everyone who believed in him, he did it for humanity."
"Well if that comforts your young heart. But... I believe that this man will carry enormous frustration in his heart for having saved all of humanity except his young pupil of not quite 16 years old."
Peter looked down at his feet, he was wearing his pajamas, he noted.
"Peter, I don't know if it came to mind, but I don't have a conversation like this with everyone who ends their journey on this astral plane"
"Do not?" He asked shyly
"Not always" the voice said as the battlefield disappeared "Peter I am granting you the chance to return" she said softly
"What? But- but how? Why?" He asked, extremely confused.
"Consider this a birthday present, this is my gift to you, do you want this?"
He nodded as he held back the tears that threatened to spill over.
"Unfortunately, this body that belonged to you is very damaged, I can't restore it and I don't want to send you back with it, it would cause you a lot of pain, but I can give you another one... it may be identical to the previous one but much younger, a newly formed body
"Like...Like a baby?" He asked curiously.
"And I can send you back with all your memories, they are yours, I couldn't take them from you, I couldn't make you forget everything that makes you yourself"
Suddenly he felt a hint of apprehension in his chest "But what if...what if he doesn't want me?"
The voice seemed surprised by this question "Peter... I can recognize strong and true love when I see it, I can recognize the love of a father. I'm not only granting that to you, but to him as well."
He thought about it for a few moments 'you'll be fine' he heard in his mind, although the voice hadn't said it out loud in the vastness, and then he nodded with determination
.
.
.
Tony felt his face turn pale, his blood ran cold and he felt his entire body go numb the moment Peter snapped his fingers, he watched as his boy was torn apart by the power of the stones, it was too much for a human being, too much for a child. It shouldn't be like this, he should have that glove on, he should snap his fingers and do what was supposed to be done, no Peter, it wasn't right, it shouldn't be like this.
Even without feeling the blood in his legs he ran towards the extremely injured body, only for a strong explosion of bright white light to push him to the ground abruptly, leaving him unconscious for a micro second before he stood up with his heart beating so hard in his chest that he briefly thought he was having a heart attack.
He ran over to the small crater in the ground and what he saw wasn't the kid, the kid wasn't there, what was there was, well, was it the kid?
He felt his hands tremble as he bent down in front of the tiny package in the middle of that mess, the bluish-white blanket being the only unbelievably clean thing on that destroyed planet, on it he had so delicately embroidered the only name that had been hammering in his mind all this time.
Tony took a deep breath as some tears accumulated in his eyes but refused to fall knowing all those heroes standing right behind him, in absolute silence, their labored breathing was all that could be heard
He didn't know what had happened, there seemed to be something much bigger behind it, he could feel it, something strange and powerful the instant it touched him, and although he was scared, he was so so relieved.
"Hey-hi Petey" Tony whispered afraid that if he spoke any louder he would shed all the tears
He took the tiny newborn in his arms, holding it protectively against his chest, listening for every little noise coming from the baby.
He watched his calm, sleepy little face amidst the chaos, it was exactly the same nose, the same ears, just much smaller and more fragile, he was so tiny and it terrified him.
.
.
.
The first few days passed in a blur, his newly formed body was still getting used to existence and his tired mind needed a lot of sleep to clear up. He remembers hearing Tony's voice, and feeling hugged, hugged close to a warm chest, listening to a familiar, comforting hum.
He remembers hearing Tony crying. He has never seen his mentor cry in his life.
His memories and consciousness were slowly returning, he became aware of the sensations around him, the extremely soft clothes he was wearing, the high quality mattress he was lying on, his belly also seemed extremely satiated. Everything was so calm, like a sliver of soft, warm sunlight entering the room, like the smell of chocolate cake baking in the oven at four in the afternoon.
He heard the door open and then his dad's face appeared over the high bars.
"Hi sun" he heard him whisper "Hi, did you have a good nap?" Tony cooed at him and Peter felt like crying, he wanted a hug
Worry crossed the billionaire's face when he heard the small whimper of tears "Shh, shh, what's wrong Petey?" The man said, taking the newborn carefully from the crib, the baby stopping crying as soon as he was in his arms "Shh...I got you, I'm not going anywhere" Tony assured, swaying him gently and running the tip of finger across his little nose and forehead.
Peter held a handful of Tony's t-shirt in his small hands as best he could as the man hugged him to his chest as he left the room. He wanted to stay there forever, feeling that gentle sway and Tony's voice murmuring reassurances to him. He noticed that the man didn't smell like expensive cologne and motor oil as usual but just his own scent and the extremely mild fabric softener.
Further on he heard a familiar and casual voice in the room "Fury has been calling me" Bruce said to Tony
"Just tell Fury to fuck off" his dad said matter-of-factly, as if this subject had already come up a dozen times before.
He could see Bruce looking softly at him for a brief moment as Tony walked past the scientist and grabbed a bottle from the coffee table that seemed to be waiting for him there.
Banner continued with a hint of apprehension in his voice, "He's been calling Steve and Clint too, he really wants to see Peter, he wants-"
Tony gave a small laugh of indignation with the bottle in his hand, taking it away from his reach and Peter was upset by it, he wanted that, it belongs to him " There's nothing for him to see around here... I don't want Shield near him." Tony told Bruce firmly, and his bottle was back, he raised his little hands to hold the bottle closer over Tony's hand.
"I'm just... I'm afraid they'll take unnecessary measures. Don't you think it would be better to let them see him soon? At least you'd be in control." Bruce was now facing Tony, instructing him to slightly lift the arm that supported his head so that Peter wasn't lying down so much while he was breastfeeding. "Don't you think it would be better to try to cooperate? For his sake?"
Tony seemed to reflect for a while but remained silent, rocking the little being in his arms until Bruce disappeared for a moment, returning with a cup in his hand and the conversation took another turn.
"What about this cute little thing? Is he taking the formula well?" Bruce asked rubbing one of his little feet with teddy bear socks.
He pulled his foot away from the big hand to try to look at the design printed on it, he hadn't noticed the teddy bears yet.
"Well he has a little black hole in his belly" Tony joked taking the bottle away from him for a moment and showing the small amount that was still left in the bottle before returning it to its owner
He made eye contact with Tony as he drank the rest. His dad's eyes were there but his mind seemed to be somewhere much further away.
"Tell me if you notice anything different in his diapers, okay?"
Tony hummed absently before taking the empty bottle from him. Shortly after, Bruce said it was time to go, not before giving Tony a hug and telling him to 'keep his head on straight'.
What was that supposed to mean?
His little mind seemed to refuse to think too much about it, especially when Tony kept rubbing his teddy bear sock with his thumb and humming this little tune in his ear, it didn't sound like english or anything he had ever heard before, and at some point, he fell asleep
He was woken up by a loud bang along with a grunt of pain from Tony. It is definitely not a good way to wake up.
He couldn't see what happened from where he lay in the small protactile crib. Was his dad okay? His little heart pounded in his chest and a loud, shrill cry echoed.
He was too scared to notice the big and strong hands picking him up and it took a while for him to hear what Tony was saying in his ear "It's okay baby, I just hit my leg on the coffee table, that's all" he heard him say and it made sense in his head but he couldn't calm his own cry of despair "It's okay, I'm sorry for scaring you, treasure. Shh..." Peter looked up and saw Tony's eyebrows furrowed in pain but he continued mumbling to him that everything was fine, nothing had happened.
Tony's heart broke when he heard such a sincere cry from the baby, the boy screamed at the top of his lungs,terrified by the loud and sudden bang.
It took a good few minutes for him to calm down, he felt terrible when he saw that Tony had a guilty expression on his face for scaring him like that.
"Are you sure you weren't hurt?" a southern accent came making him curious as he sobbed into his dad's chest
Tony thought a little, rubbing the newborn's back "I think I should put some ice on it" the other person agreed
"Can you hold him for a bit?" He said, adjusting him in his arms to try to transfer him to the other person, letting him now see who he was. In fact he wasn't sure if he even knew who was that person.
"I- uhm" the blonde guy, who owned the voice, said looking a little disconcerted and taking a step back, away from him.
"Don't worry, he doesn't bite, Harls"
"I think I'd rather hold him while I'm sitting, Tony"
His das nodded and followed him to the sofa, placing him in the awkward arms of the blonde guy who looked into his eyes, softening his expression "Okay, watch his head"
'Hi, who are you and what are you doing here?' Peter wished he could ask
Luckily the guy had a bit of decency to introduce himself "Hi Peter, I'm Harley" Harley said softly to him, and he could hear the sound of tap water somewhere.
Harley smelled like cologne but not too strong, it was a very good perfume, he may or may not have smelled something feminine mixed with his perfume but Peter was just happy that Tony stopped using his own colognes, his natural scent was much better, it smelled safety and comfort.
"Are you going to spend the month here, Harls?" Tony asked from wherever he was nursing the wound he said didn't exist. Liar
"No, I can only stay for a week. I want to spend some time on campus before classes start..." the young blonde commented, looking away from him for a very brief and quick moment. "How can he be so small, Tony?" He heard the man laugh and agree from where he was
Peter was distracted trying to grab the strings of Harley's hoodie as he heard his father's voice approaching.
"I have a friend there, maybe you have him as a teacher." Tony walked right past him with an ice pack in his hand, limping a little and sat down next to them "I heard this season is going to be difficult."
"There are a lot of university students who came back from the blip and a lot has changed in 5 years. I think this will be kind of new for everyone." Harley said trying to pull the hoddie string from his small hand lightly, smiling at him "Do you think he's going to call you dad?"
Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise as if he hadn't thought about it yet "I- uh..." he looked at Peter who now looked at him seeming to wait for an answer, it was funny and Harley laughed at that "Maybe, I think so." He replied, laughing a little, still surprised by the question.
" And I hope so, all your fuss didn't stop fatherhood from reaching you." Harley asked Tony a lot of things and Peter felt like it had been a long time since the two of them had talked, he realized that he himself didn't know what the last 5 years had been like for Tony.
"What about Pepper? Didn't she call you back?" Harley asked, shifting Peter and placing him on top of a fluffy pillow on his legs and holding his teddy bear socks feet. Those were his favorite socks in the world right now.
Tony shook his head silently and Harley changed the topic from then on.
Taking a look to the side, behind Tony he could see a storm starting outside and crashing against the large floor-to-ceiling windows.
"I brought pizza" Harley announced, stopping for a moment to figure out how to pick up the baby to give back to the man and decided to let Tony do it and pick him up from the pillow in his lap.
"I'm going to put him in a clean diaper, you can go get the dishes" Tony said leaving the room while Harley ran to the kitchen.